President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made significant appointments on Wednesday, August 28, at the Bank of Industry (BOI), with Rotimi Akinde and Ifeoma Uz’Okpala joining as new Directors.
Akinde will be taking on the role of Executive Director of Corporate Finance and Risk Management, while Uz’Okpala will assume the position of Executive Director of the Large Enterprises Directorate.
These appointments took effect on Monday, August 26, 2024, as announced by Theodora Amechi, Head of the Public Relations Division at BOI. These changes reflect a strategic move to strengthen BOI’s leadership team and drive its mission forward. We look forward to seeing how these appointments will impact BOI’s operations positively.
Rotimi Akinde is a finance professional with over 20 years of Investment and Corporate Banking experience and an extensive track record covering capital raising (Debt, Equities and Hybrids) as well as Corporate Finance (Mergers & Acquisitions, Privatization Advisory and Project Finance).
Before joining the Bank of Industry, he was an Associate Partner, Project & Corporate Finance at the Infrastructure Delivery International (IDI), where he worked on the UKNIAF programme and promoted green finance as well as structured debt solutions for sub-nationals.
He also worked previously as the Corporate Finance Advisor at the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (‘NIAF’), providing financing initiatives, modelling and funding structures on infrastructure.
He served in Corporate Banking as the Group Head & Assistant General Manager of Multinationals at UBA Plc, before which he was Vice President of Corporate Finance & Advisory at UBA Global Markets (‘now United Capital’).
He was a Privatization Adviser & Head of the Oil and Gas Team at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), where he closed on the divestiture and sale of the Federal Government’s equity interest in 11 Oil Services Companies and achieved the sale of all the Federal Government’s LPG assets.
He was Assistant Manager at Leadbank Plc, at the Investment and Corporate Banking Groups.
Before this, he had worked in the financial sector in the United Kingdom as an Investment Analyst with Barclays Funds, London and a stint as an Analyst with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, London.
Rotimi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; earned a Master’s Degree in International Securities, Investment & Banking from the University of Reading, UK and holds an Executive MBA from INSEAD.
Ifeoma Uz’Okpala joined BOI in September 2014 as Group Head, of Large Enterprises Credit and later served as the Chief Risk Officer of the Bank before her appointment.
As Chief Risk Officer of the Bank, she played a crucial role in managing and mitigating risks associated with the bank’s operations, while also providing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risk support. She offered invaluable ESG support within transactions and provided the roadmap for attracting impact investments.
Uz’Okpala is a seasoned Credit and Risk Management Professional, with a career spanning over 30 years in the financial sector.
She commenced her career at the International Merchant Bank and progressed through key roles at MBC International, First Bank, Stanbic Bank, and UBA. Her versatile expertise includes Internal Audit, Corporate Finance, Credit Evaluation and Origination, Foreign Operations, and Risk Management.
She is an alumna of the University of Nigeria, where she attained a BSc. In Accountancy and a graduate of the prestigious Lagos Business School.
Uz’Okpala is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), an Honourary Senior Member (HCIB) of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and a Member of the Chartered Risk Management Institute.
